Mangonadas, big doughnuts come to the West 7th area this weekend

The hot and spicy chilotes (chicharrons with elotes covered by Hot Cheetos) at Zero Degrees
Courtesy of Zero Degrees

Hey. Bud! When is Zero Degrees going to open? It seems like forever.

—Luke, Fort Worth

Zero Degrees, the young-at-heart shop with lots of flashy mangonadas and a few select food items, is scheduled to open this weekend at 2401 W. Seventh St., on the Matisse Street side behind Pho District. (Also nearby: Hurts Donut will open next week at 901 Foch St., in the Foch Street Warehouses near La Familia or Avoca.)

Explore where you live.

Hurts Donut Company’s doughnuts are larger than most and brightly colored.
The Wichita Eagle

Hey, Bud! You mentioned The Gardens moving. Is Garden Oaks going to be a restaurant for the public, or is it just an event center for private events?

—Danell, Fort Worth

Yes — the former Southern Oaks Country Club dining room near Burleson will reopen in February as the Garden Oaks public restaurant. It’s the former Gardens Restaurant from Fort Worth, moved into a country club setting. (Mountain Valley Country Club near Joshua is also now open to the public.)

Eats Beat Ep. 147

DFW Restaurant Week

Hey, Bud! What happened to Urban Bricks Pizza in Arlington? I liked it better than Blaze.

—Rhonda, Arlington

Urban Bricks had trouble drawing business to Champions Park, an oddly designed shopping center that turns its back on Colline Street drivers. But Social House and Zero Degrees are doing well there. Urban’s biggest problem was simply the glut of pizza restaurants. To succeed, a pizza restaurant has to be either (1) great or (2) cheap. If it’s neither, then why go?

Columnist Bud Kennedy is a Fort Worth guy who covered high school football at 16 and has moved on to two Super Bowls, seven political conventions and 15 Texas Legislature sessions. Since 1985, he has also written more than 2,000 “Eats Beat” columns about Texas dining, restaurants and food.